Austin Scott a Brown; Morelli Meanders

In a humongous sweep of draft leftovers, the NFL Cleveland Browns signed 23 free agents. Among them was ex-Nittany Lion tailback Austin Scott.

Unfortunately, Austin Scott will be better remembered around Penn State circles for his off-field exploits than for his accomplishments as a running back. However, he never lived up to the promise of his high school career.

Scott’s penchant for dancing around behind the line of scrimmage before moving forward was a great hindrance to his success in the faster moving college game, where opposing linebackers were in the backfield before Scott could get his ass in gear.

It is important to distinguish Scott’s actual performance from his potential, but that is all water under the bridge. He’s the Brownies’ problem now for a year, if he survives all the cruel cuts of the NFL pre-season.

Jamal Lewis is the Browns’ feature back. It is unclear how Scott will fit in to the Browns’ offensive scheme.

A Cleveland Plain-Dealer reader posted the following comment:

I’m excited about Austin Scott. This guy is amazing…if he can stay out of trouble. I never like taking questionable character guys..I leave that to the Bengals…but I’m glad the Browns are taking a flyer on him. Remember, Jam Lewis was in trouble and actually had his career derailed for a time by it…[even] serving time in prison Maybe Lewis can serve as a mentor to Scott. Go Browns!

Scott signed a one-year contract, but it is conditional on his making the team, which is to say that he must be on the final, 53-man roster.

“I’m going to turn it up another couple of notches,” Scott vowed. “I just want to get ready for the preseason minicamps and make an impression to make the final cut, to make it to the season, actually. I want to make sure that they understand they can use me and that I’m a good athlete to have on their team. I want them to know that I can help the Browns. I want to make an impression on special teams.”

Meanwhile, at Arizona Cardinal mini-camp, Anthony Morelli continues to struggle with apprehending the playbook, as he vies with Brian St. Pierre for the third-string job behind Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner. Par for the course, eh?

On the other hand, Dan Connor was impressive lining up at middle linebacker with the Carolina Panthers second and third teams. Having scant time to master a complex defensive playbook, Connor was still able to make some decent reads.

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